Voting-machine.



No. 828,384. PATENTED AUG. 14, 1906. C. CHRISTENSEN.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1903 2 SEEETS-SHEET l.

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No. 828,384. PATENTED AUG. 14, 1906.

U. CHRISTENSEN.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1903.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

vwewboz Christ Christensen W I By M I I W. elffo'cnc lp- UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

CHRIST CHRISTENSEN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO COLUMBIA VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF INDIAN- APOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

VOTlNG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 10, 1903.

Patented Aug. 14, 1906.

Serial No. 180.627.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRIST CHRISTENSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Voting-Machine Keys, of which the following is a specification.

In that type of voting-machines shown in my Patent N 0. 658,204 each candidate is represented by a completely-rotatable key which is to be partially operated by the voter and which is positively connected to its counter. In order that a straight ticket may be voted, it is desirable that every candidate-key of a particular party row be operated in order that every candidate-counter in the party row be operated, so that at the close of the election thecounter of each candidate will indicate the total vote which has been cast for that candidate. It is of course also necessary that each of the candidatekeys be individually operable; and the object of my present invention is to provide a Structure by means of which the voter may readily vote a straight ticket, yet by which he is compelled to individually and separately operate each of the keys representing the candidate for whom he desires to vote. To this end I have done away with what has heretofore been termed a straight-ticket key, which either operates a Separate straightticket counter or serves to operate upon all the candidate-counters in the party row, for the reason that in one case it isnecessary to add to the indication of the candidate-counters the indication of the straightticket counter and in the other case thestraightticket key is required to be sufliciently larger than the candidate-keys to permit the exercise of considerable more force simultaneously upon all of the candidate-keys in a party row. In such construction a single candidate-key may be operated in one partyrow and then a straight-ticket key of another party row operated, whereby a considerable and dangerous force may be exerted upon the interlocking mechanism of the previously-operated single key.

As reviously stated, I have omitted the straiglit-ticket keys and in lieu thereof each candidate-key is provided with an operatingtail which is so arranged that a voter by placing his finger at one of the rows of candidate-keys representing his party may by a Single and continuous movement of the finger engage all the candidate-keys in succession and rapidly move all of the candidatekeys of the desired party to voting position. By this construction it is necessary for each voter to operate the keys of all the candidates for whom he votes. Therefore there will be no appreciable difference in time between that required for voting a straight ticket and that required for voting a scratched ticket.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional detail of a single voting-key and attached counter of the general type shown in the patent previously mentioned. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the face of the machine equipped with my improved key and adjacent parts. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the improved key. Fig. 4 is a detail showing means for continuing the movement of voted keys; Fig. 5, a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 an ensmalled plan of one end of the machine-casing and exit-lever.

In this type of machine, the voting-key consists of a rotatable shaft 10, which is journaled at one end in the plate-face 11 and at the other end projects through a closed counter 12, to Which it is positively connected. The shaft 10 is provided with an intermediate cranked portion 13, which engages an interlocking slide 14. Each of the keys is provided upon that portion of the shaft which extends through the face-plate with a fingerhead 15, by means of which the shaft may be partially rotated, so that its cranked portion may be thrown up into the adjacent notch 16 of the shifting-grid 16, by means of which the movement of the key is continued when the voter passes from the machine, as clearly described in the patent mentioned, a cord being moved by means of a cam 31, shaft 30, and exit-lever 32. Each of these heads has been heretofore provided with an indicatingpointer 17, which when the key has been thrown by the voter to vote position will point to the name of the candidate represented by that key, as clearly indicated in the lower part of Fig. 2.

To accomplish theobject of my invention,

I provide each head 15 with a finger-piece, the tail 18, so that the voter, by placing his finger upon the tail of the right-hand key of any party row, he may draw that finger in the direction indicated in the arrow in Fi g. 2 beneath the heads 15 in succession, and as each key is swung to voted position the finger of the voter comes naturally into engage ment with the place of the next adjacent key, which is thereupon operated by a continued movement of the finger of the voter. As a consequence the successive operation of the keys is very rapid. It is of course necessary to arrange adjacent each row of keys suitable indicating-cards 19, to which the pointers 17 may point When the keys have been thrown to voted position, and in order to facilitate the operations just described I mount these cards ina holder 20,which at its upper edge is provided with a roll 21, upon which the tip of the finger of the voter may rest as it engages the tails 18 of the keys of the next row above.

I claim as my invention 1. In a voting-machine, the combination, with a series of voting-keys completely rotatable for each voting operation, and counters operated thereby, of a plurality of operatingheads one for each key, each of said heads carrying a finger lever projecting transversely from the head, and each provided with a surface adapted to be engaged by the finger of a voter, means for arranging the finger-levers of a series of keys in substantial parallelism out of alinement with the key series, the arrangement being such that a series of voting-keys may be successively actuated by a voters finger carried transversely across the series of keys into successive =en gagement with the extended finger-levers,

and means for subsequently simultaneously continuing the movement of the voted keys.

2. In a voting-machine, the combination, with a series of voting-keys completely rotatable for each voting operation, and counters operated thereby, of a plurality of operatingheads one for each key, each of said heads carrying a finger lever projecting transversely from the head, and each provided with a surface adapted to be engaged by the finger of a voter, means for arranging the 'fin ger-levers of a series of keys in substantial parallelism out of alinement with the key series, the arrangement being such that a series of voting-keys may be successively actuated by a voters finger carried transversely across the series of keys into successive engagement with the extended fingerlevers, and means operable by the voter upon exit from the machine for subsequently simultaneously continuing the movement of the voted keys.

3. In a voting-machine, the combination, with a series of voting-keys completely rotatable for each voting operation, and counters operated thereby, of a plurality of operatingheads one for each key, each of said heads carrying a finger lever projecting transversely from the head, and each provided with a surface adapted to be engaged by the finger of a voter, means for arranging the finger-levers of a series of keys in substantial parallelism out of alinement with the key series, the arrangement being such that a series of voting-keys may be successively actuated by a voters finger carried transversely across the series of keys into succes sive engagement with the extended fingerlevers, a finger-support arranged adjacent the series of finger-levers, and means for subsequently continuing the movement of the voted keys.

4. In a voting-machine, the combination, with a series of voting-keys completely rotatable for each voting operation, and counters operated thereby, of a plurality of operatingheads one for each key, each of said heads carrying a finger lever projecting transversely from the head, and each provided with a surface adapted to be engaged by the finger of a voter, means for arranging the finger-levers of a series of keys in substantial parallelism out of alinement with the key series, the arrangement being such that a series of voting-keys may be successively actuated by a voters finger carried transversely across the series of keys into successive engagement with the extended fingerlevers, a finger-support arranged adjacent the series of finger-levers, and means operable by the voter upon exit from the machine for subsequently simultaneously continuing the movement of the voted keys.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indianajthis 19th day of October, A. D. 1908.

CHRIST CHRISTENSEN.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR M. Hoon. JAMES A. WALSIL 

